Vanellus miles
Silhouette: Rebecca Groom · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The masked lapwing (Vanellus miles) is a large, common and conspicuous bird native to Australia (particularly the northern and eastern parts of the continent), New Zealand and New Guinea. It spends most of its time on the ground searching for food such as insects and worms and has several distinctive calls. It is common in Australian fields, open land and where there is lots of water, and is known for its defensive swooping behaviour during the nesting season.
Despite the species being also known as the masked plover and often called the spur-winged plover or just plover in its native range, lapwings are classified to their own subfamily, Vanellinae, and not to the closely related plover subfamily, Charadriinae. There are two subspecies, the nominate subspecies and the southern V. m. novaehollandiae. The latter has distinctive black markings on the shoulder and side of the chest, and is sometimes recognised as a separate species, the black-shouldered lapwing (Vanellus novaehollandiae).
The masked lapwing was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux in 1781. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured... Wikipedia →
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disney's Animal Kingdom | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Busch Gardens Tampa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Moscow Zoo | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 5 | Pairi Daiza | 🇧🇪 Belgium | |
| 6 | Prague Zoo | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 7 | Leipzig Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 8 | Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Ostrava Zoo | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 10 | Zoo Pilsen | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 11 | Greensboro Science Center | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Parc des oiseaux | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 13 | Zoobotánico Jerez | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 14 | Zoo Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Columbus Zoo and Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 16 | Bronx Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | Badoca Safari Park | 🇵🇹 Portugal | |
| 18 | Sedgwick County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 19 | Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 20 | Milwaukee County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 21 | Wow Safari Thoiry | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 22 | Slimbridge Wetland Centre | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 23 | Phoenix Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 24 | Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 25 | Cape May County Park & Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 26 | Réserve africaine de Thoiry | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 27 | Audubon Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 28 | Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 29 | Oasis Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 30 | Woodland Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 31 | Brevard Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 32 | Night Safari | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 33 | Zoologischer Garten Leipzig | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 34 | ZooTampa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 35 | Fort Worth Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 36 | Taronga Zoo | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 37 | Singapore Zoo | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 38 | Wilhelma | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 39 | Cleland Wildlife Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 40 | Blank Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 41 | Fort Wayne Children's Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 42 | Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 43 | San Antonio Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 44 | Cologne Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 45 | Fresno Chaffee Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 46 | Zoo Atlanta | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 47 | Bird Paradise | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 48 | El Paso Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 49 | Riverbanks Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 50 | Cleres Zoological Park | 🇫🇷 France |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Masked Lapwing sighting in Rakiura National Park on a given day, based on 32 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 64th most-seen of the 80 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Masked Lapwing in Rakiura National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June to April, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Masked Lapwing sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
26th of 26
Of the 26 parks where we can rate Masked Lapwing sightings, Rakiura National Park ranks 26th at under 5%. The best odds are in Daintree National Park (Australia, about 60%), Kakadu National Park (Australia, about 50%) and Wilsons Promontory National Park (Australia, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Charadriiformes
The closest relatives of the Masked Lapwing that you can see in Rakiura National Park (order Charadriiformes, Shorebirds and Allies) are Silver Gull (about 80%), VOC (about 80%) and Dominican Gull (about 70%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Masked Lapwing is recorded against all the birds logged in Rakiura National Park (32 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
